Low-paid work (2)

Leonie Cooper: What is the impact of low-paid work on London’s economy?

The Mayor: London’s economic growth and success has left behind many Londoners. Our economy creates powerful currents that can pull people into poverty, like low wages and increasing living costs.
That’s why my Economic Development Strategy sets a new agenda for ‘good growth’ – one based around the principle of an economy that works for all Londoners, underpinned by London’s values of fairness and inclusivity. Importantly, I want to make sure the interventions we design to increase productivity are ones that benefit workers- things like training, management practices and stable and fair contracts.
It's also why I'm such an advocate of the Living Wage campaign, it’s essential that hard-working Londoners, who keep this city going, are rewarded for their integral role in the city's success.

London Living Wage

Leonie Cooper: What recent action have you taken to encourage businesses to pay the London Living Wage?

The Mayor: Over 1600 employers in the capital have signed up to pay their staff at least the London Living Wage of £10.55 per hour. London has already seen more than a 50 per cent increase in the number of London Living Wage accreditations since I took office. I will continue to promote the benefits of the London Living Wage and campaign for more employers to pay it, especially through my Good Work Standard. I want employers from all sectors - both big and small - and from across the capital to reach this benchmark for good employment practice.
I also urge business leaders directly to sign up to the Living Wage, for example when I meet with them or by letter.

Low-paid work (1)

Leonie Cooper: What action should central Government take to support you in reducing the numbers of Londoners in low-paid work?

The Mayor: I want all Londoners to be paid and treated fairly. My Economic Development Strategy sets out my asks of government. Firstly, I ask the government to implement the recommendations of the Mathew Taylor review to improve the rights of agency workers, zero-hour contractors, and those employed within the gig economy, and make the regulatory changes necessary to improve the quality of work in the UK economy.
Secondly, the government should broaden the powers of HMRC, and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, and implement a much more activist enforcement regime to root out illegal employment practices.

Outsourcing (3)

Leonie Cooper: How will the Good Work Standard interact with outsourcing?

The Mayor: The Good Work Standard has the Living Wage at its heart. A requirement of being a Living Wage employer is paying all directly employed staff a Living Wage and have a plan in place to extend that to regular sub-contracted staff as well.
We ask employers completing the Good Work Standard self-assessment to consider their whole workforce, including those who undertake work on their premises or property on a regular basis. This will likely include any security, event and cleaning staff, workers on fixed-term or agency contracts, or those self-employed and contracting with the employer.

Procurement (1)

Leonie Cooper: What makes a good procurement policy for London’s businesses?

The Mayor: The GLA Group spends around £11billion on its procurement activities every year. The scale and diversity of our buying power presents considerable opportunities for effective partnership working, to achieve value for money and encourage innovative approaches.
I've pledged to be London's most pro-business Mayor ever and this means offering better access to business opportunities through the GLA Group’s procurement processes, such as opportunities for SME builders through developments on GLA and other publicly owned sites.
This forms a key element of my Responsible Procurement Policy and through implementation of this policy will deliver innovative approaches to break down barriers that restrict SMEs, community sector organisations and underrepresented groups from entering our supply chain.

Procurement (3)

Leonie Cooper: What action are you taking to encourage businesses to have good procurement policies?

The Mayor: I am keen to lead by example and use my purchasing power, some £11 billion on procurement, to support the values that are included in my Responsible Procurement strategy- economic development and wealth creation; social development; and improvement of the environment.
The GLA's functional bodies use the procurement process to stimulate a range of terms and bring together key suppliers through forums such as the TfL key suppliers forum and broader business groups such as the City Hall's London Business Climate Leaders.

Healthier Catering Commitment (2)

Onkar Sahota: What is the average reduction in calories per relevant menu option among businesses that have signed up to the healthier catering commitment?

The Mayor: There are currently over 800 food outlets in London accredited through the Healthier Catering Commitment (HCC), which range from takeaways to cafes and restaurants. The accreditation consists of 25 criteria, 7 of which are mandatory for outlets that fry food. The scheme’s overarching objective is to reduce levels of fat, salt and sugar in the food served in these businesses and the criteria, therefore, address factors including the type of cooking oil used, portion sizes and promotion of healthier offers.
Given the fact the accreditation is open to a range of foot outlets, its criteria are not tailored to individual menu items. However, they have been informed and developed by the latest nutritional guidelines to ensure fulfilling the criteria results in a healthier offer for customers. For example, it is mandatory for any food outlet using a deep fat fryer to maintain an optimum oil temperature, in line with the NEODA frying guidelines, which avoids excessive fat absorption.

Healthier Catering Commitment (1)

Onkar Sahota: How many businesses have signed up to the Healthier Catering Commitment in each year of its operation?

The Mayor: Using funding from my London Food Programme and in partnership with the Association of London Environmental Health Managers (ALEHM), the Healthier Catering Commitment working group has been able to develop a dedicated website and begin auditing the number of accredited food outlets for the first time. In March 2018, there were 728 accredited businesses registered on the website. As of March 2019, this figure has risen to 806.
In 2011, the first edition of the Good Food for London report showed 18 local authorities were delivering the scheme. In 2018, 21 boroughs were delivering the scheme. In the London Food Strategy, I committed to continue supporting the scheme’s continued delivery and expansion and this year, ALEHM will use funding to develop an accredited training course for officers delivering the accreditation which will be proactively used as an incentive for boroughs not delivering the scheme to expand its reach.

Shortage of Skilled Migrants

Navin Shah: In addition to the acute shortage of EU migrants to fill jobs in key areas like the NHS; building and hospitality industries etc. there is now urgent need for more migrants needed to cater for vacancies in professional / skilled jobs like architects, web designers and vets etc. The ‘Migration Advisory Committee’ has reported to the Home Secretary calling for a priority list (official ‘Shortage occupation list’) for visas as there are not enough British or EU applicants to fill posts in skilled sectors. Do you support the committee’s recommendations and if the government is not prepared to act on this what can you do to address the issue to protect London’s economy?

The Mayor: The Migration Advisory Committee's report is the first review of the Shortage Occupation List in over five years. During this time employers in many sectors have faced increasing difficulties to fill key roles.
Earlier this year I wrote to the Home Secretary urging him to considerably expand the occupations on the list to better reflect London’s needs. The Migration Advisory Committee's recommendations will cover around nine per cent of jobs in the labour market, compared to one per cent under the previous list.
The Home Secretary should now take this forward. If that does not happen, I have made clear there is a growing case for London to have a greater say over shortage occupations, with the potential to devolve such decisions.

Good Work Charter

Onkar Sahota: Of the employers accredited with the GWC, a) how many recognise a trade union for collective bargaining and b) how many workers are employed in these organisations?

The Mayor: I am a proud trade unionist. I think our workplaces are safer, more productive and better places to be because of our trade unions.
My Good Work Standard sets the benchmark for good workforce dialogue and engagement. I think this is best facilitated and delivered through trade union recognition and collective bargaining.
My team are working with a range of organisations to get them signed up as early adopters of the Good Work Standards. They are a mix of organisations who recognise one or many unions and organisations who have other arrangements for workforce engagement in place.

Healthier Catering Commitment (4)

Onkar Sahota: Does the Healthier Catering Commitment collect sales data on reformulated / non-reformulated menu options in businesses that have signed up?

The Mayor: There are currently over 800 food outlets in London accredited through the Healthier Catering Commitment (HCC), of which the vast majority are small, independently-owned businesses. They operate on extremely small profit margins and as such, are unable to access or invest in electronic point of sale (EPOS) technology to provide this breakdown of sales data. Furthermore, the accreditation is open to any type of food outlet and its criteria are not tailored to individual menu options which means those criteria specifically aimed at reformulation achieve reductions in levels of fat, sugar and salt across a vast range of products.

Healthier Catering Commitment (3)

Onkar Sahota: What is the budget for the promotion of the Healthier Catering Commitment?

The Mayor: In my London Food Strategy, I committed to continue supporting the delivery and expansion of the Healthier Catering Commitment, which helps hot food outlets make simple changes to their processes, ingredients and portion sizes to reduce levels of fat, salt and sugar in their food. Delivered in partnership with the Association of London Environmental Health Managers (ALEHM) and public health teams across London, the accreditation forms part of a package of interventions tackling levels of child obesity in London.
Last year, I committed £10,000 funding to support the scheme through the London Food Programme. ALEHM and the Royal Borough of Greenwich contributed over £6,000 match funding in addition to the investment of 20 other local authorities delivering the scheme. This year, £15,000 funding will support the scheme’s expansion through the development of an accredited training course for officers delivering the scheme across London and a second tier aimed at larger food businesses.

Good Work Standard

Fiona Twycross: How do you intend to encourage businesses to sign up to the Good Work Standard?

The Mayor: I am keen to lead by example and use my purchasing power, some £11 billion on procurement, to support good work and use the procurement process to stipulate the minimum terms of employment provided by suppliers such as the London Living Wage and my Good Work Standard.
I encourage other employers to do the same and be influential members in their local economy promoting good employment practices. It isn’t just the right and moral thing to do, it makes good business sense too.
As many employers already know, the benefits are clear – supporting fair pay and working practices increases productivity and reduces staff turnover.

Greater London Authority corporate gifts

Andrew Boff: Please provide me with a list of all corporate gifts received by the GLA since May 2016. Please also provide a breakdown of the value of each gift as well as the names of the organisations who provided each gift.

The Mayor: No corporate gifts have been received by the GLA since May 2016.

AI technology

Leonie Cooper: How many small businesses applied for your offer of support with artificial intelligence (AI) technology and how many were successful?

The Mayor: Small businesses are pivotal to our economy, and I firmly believe innovation should be available to companies of all sizes, not just the ones with the deepest pockets. The AI for SMEs programme will support SMEs from London's retail and hospitality sectors to access information, support and funding to help them deploy AI solutions and grow their business. As part of the larger programme, we are conducting an academic trial alongside the London School of Economics to assess the adoption rate and longer-term efficacy of the technology.Details on the trial will be published in early 2020.

London Living Wage (1)

Leonie Cooper: What has been done since 2016 to get more employers to sign up to the London Living Wage?

The Mayor: The Living Wage is a win-win for employers and employees. It can help employers with recruitment, retention and productivity. In short, it makes good commercial sense.
I am very pleased to say that 1600 London businesses are accredited Living Wage businesses, an increase of 50 per centsince I became Mayor.
I have always believed that it is important to lead by example and that is why one of my first tasks was to ensure that all GLA staff were being paid the London Living Wage. I continue to support the Living Wage campaign and have supported Living Wage Week each year by announcing the new rates and offering free advertising space on the TfL network.
I will continue to urge employers to become Living Wage accredited through a variety of channels.

London Living Wage (3)

Leonie Cooper: How many London Boroughs are now signed up to the LLW? Please list them and the date when they signed up.

The Mayor: There are currently 18 London Living Wage accredited boroughs: Brent, Camden, Croydon, City of London, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Haringey, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hounslow, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Redbridge, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.
The GLA does not keep records of when organisations signed up as this process is handled by the Living Wage Foundation, but fourof the boroughs have been accredited as a Living Wage Employer since I became Mayor.

London Living Wage (2)

Leonie Cooper: What steps have been taken to ensure that more London Boroughs sign up to the London Living Wage?

The Mayor: My officers are working to engage and involve more London boroughs in adopting my Good Work Standard, which has the London Living Wage at its heart. I will also continue to raise this in my ongoing engagement with boroughs.

Low pay and food bank usage

Leonie Cooper: How many Londoners are accessing food banks despite being in work? Can you break this figure down by year since 2012?

The Mayor: The following provides a breakdown of the number of emergency food supplies given out by the Trussell Trust in London since 2013-14, the earliest the data was recorded. This is a measure of volume rather than unique users. The Trussell Trust state that on average people needed two food bank referrals in the last year.
The primary cause for referral to Trussell Trust food banks in 2018-19 was ‘income not covering the cost of essentials’ (33.3 per cent), which shows employment isn’t automatically a route out of poverty. Trussell Trust figures don’t account for all food bank use as there are hundreds of independent providers that aren’t mapped. Furthermore, these statistics don’t represent the true scale of food insecurity, which is why I committed to measuring levels of household food insecurity in London for the first time in my London Food Strategy.

Foreign Direct Investment in London (1)

Fiona Twycross: Can you detail how much foreign direct investment (FDI) London has received by year since 2014 and where it has originated from?

The Mayor: The table attachedshows the Foreign Direct Investment projects London has received by year since 2014 and where they originated from.

Foreign Direct Investment in London (2)

Fiona Twycross: A survey by EY found that whilst the UK remains in top position as the European destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2018, but the number of projects was down by 13% on the previous year. Furthermore, it found 15% of global investors have put investment plans in the UK on hold owing to Brexit, and sectors exposed to Brexit experienced major declines in FDI in 2018, with manufacturing down by 35%, headquarters down 49% and R&D down 17%. What are businesses in London communicating to you with regards to FDI?

The Mayor: My promotional agency London & Partners talks to businesses based in London and overseas every day.
Businesses have been telling them that access to talent is one of their main concerns. In response to this, London & Partner have launched a talent toolkit, which can befound here: https://business.london/invest/jobs-and-talent/
The toolkit is an authoritative resource that addresses the misinformation and misperception in the market, by focusing on:

Outsourcing (4)

Leonie Cooper: What action can you take to put an end to the bad practice that is often seen in outsourcing in London, with regards to workers’ rights?

The Mayor: I think good employment practices should apply to directly employed staff and sub-contracted staff. We ask employers completing the Good Work Standard self-assessment to consider their whole workforce and those who undertake work on the employer's premises or property on a regular basis.

Foreign Direct Investment in London

Andrew Dismore: According to the Guardian, (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/04/retailers-warn-of-fresh-wave-of-job-losses-and-store-closures)
“A survey by the consultancy and auditing firm EY found that the UK retained its position as the No 1 European destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2018, but the number of projects was down by 13% on the previous year. Fifteen per cent of global investors have put investment plans in the UK on hold owing to Brexit, the firm said, but only 6% planned to move assets out of the UK in the future. Sectors exposed to Brexit experienced major declines in FDI in 2018, with manufacturing down by 35%, headquarters down 49% and R&D down 17%.”

How do you think this will affect London in particular, and do you agree that this is yet more evidence that a hard Brexit will do calamitous damage to our economy?

The Mayor: London remains the number one destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) globally and in 2018 it attracted around 1 in 10 of all FDI projects into Europe (FDI Monitor, 2018).
The fundamental strengths of London such asfavourabletime zones, world class talent and access to global markets is continuing to attract businesses and entrepreneurs from all over the world.
However, whilst London’s overall international reputation is strong, there is no doubt that the Government's approach to Brexithas weakened appetite for investment. This means we need to work even harder to continue to sell London and wemustmakewhat preparations we can to avert the very negative outcomes of a no deal Brexit.

Gig Economy and Safety Training

David Kurten: Between two-thirds and three-quarters of workers surveyed for ‘the Gig Economy’ Report by the UCL said they had not been provided with safety training on managing risks on the road and had not been given any safety equipment such as a high visibility vest - 70% resort to providing their own; that the companies did not care about their safety whilst working; and thought responsibility for safety training and equipment should at least be shared. What steps will you take to address these issues?

The Mayor: The nature of the 'gig economy' model raises a number of challenges for those it employs, and I am passionate in my belief that everyone deserves decent pay and appropriate working conditions. Workers in the gig economy should still be offered a safe working environment and I would urge all London employers to provide this. I have recently set up an economic fairness team which is proactively challenging exploitative business practices and low pay, while recognising and promoting good practice in employment. This includes all workers, including those in the gig economy. I will endeavour to ensure any initiatives are developed in consultation with trade unions and employers.

Replacement of EU funds

Andrew Dismore: Have you received any further information from the Government about London’s share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which is due to replace EU funding after Brexit?

The Mayor: April’s parliamentary Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee report recommendation relating to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund echoed my own concerns about the Fund’s purpose and its delayed implementation. The recommendation suggested:
‘The Government must .. publish the promised consultation… within two weeks from 12 April. Funding levels.. must match or exceed the equivalent levels of EU funding which is currently provided to local government. This must be allocated .. taking account of what individual areas currently receive from EU structural funds as well as what they would have been entitled to in the next EU funding period if the UK had remained a member.’
In its response to the report published on 4 June, the government reconfirmed its intention to consult on the Fund, without providing timescales. It stated that final decisions would be taken following the spending review.

LEAP and Brexit

Andrew Dismore: In the EU Exit Working Group in February, it was stated that the LEAP provides the Government with business intelligence relating to Brexit on a weekly basis. Are the Government taking your intelligence and recommendations on board?

The Mayor: We currently share business intelligence, gathered through the activity of the London Growth Hub, with Government on a fortnightly basis. We are advised by officials that this information is used to feed into Ministerial briefings but we are unaware of any specific actions that have resulted from this intelligence.